


Are We Out Of The Woods Yet

by ardentaislinn, SuburbanSun



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Because we always need more of that, F/M, Gen, Team Bonding, ridiculous fluff, written on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-03-04
Packaged: 2018-03-16 07:57:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3480413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ardentaislinn/pseuds/ardentaislinn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuburbanSun/pseuds/SuburbanSun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitz discovers that forced team bonding in the middle of nature isn't actually all that bad when the person he is bonding with is Jemma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Are We Out Of The Woods Yet

**Author's Note:**

> Some of you may have seen us writing this on Tumblr as pleaseletmeshowyou and unbreakablejemmasimmons respectively. We've cleaned it up and posted it here for your enjoyment.

The wind rustled through the trees; an insect buzzed wildly, and Leo Fitz whimpered.

“You mean… we’re staying here _overnight_? In, um… in _tents_?”

Wearing his trademark suit with only the tie loosened in concession to the outdoors, Coulson frowned. “That’s right, Fitz. No sneaking off to sleep in the SUV tonight.” Fitz blanched, and Coulson continued, pointing at the gathered group of agents. “That goes for all of you. Things have been too tense and stressful for too long around here. You’re not leaving this campsite until I see smiles all around.”

Of the six agents standing in a half circle, only Fitz and Hunter looked dismayed. “But--” began Hunter.

May silenced him with a look. Crossing her arms, she jerked her head toward Coulson. “I’d listen to him, if I were you.”

`

“ _Jemma_ ,” Fitz hissed. He pushed another branch out of the way before it could whack him in the face. Who had ever thought hiking would be a fun compulsory bonding activity? Oh, right, _Coulson_.

“What is it, Fitz?” Jemma answered distractedly, glancing around at their surroundings with a beatific expression.

“I just saw a _bug_ ,” Fitz told her. A few of the others glanced behind them curiously at his loud pronouncement.

“Well, yes, Fitz. That’s probably quite common, since we happen to be surrounded by their natural habitat.”

“It was as big as my face,” he managed through tightly gritted teeth, glaring at the others as they issued amused smirks in his direction.

“I know! Isn’t the wildlife in this part of the world fascinating?”

“C’mon, man,” said Trip from up ahead. “Enjoy the scenery. It’s a beautiful day.”

“Triplett is right, Fitz. It’s not every day that you get to experience the flora and fauna of a place like this.”

“If anything attacks me, I’m blaming you,” Fitz muttered under his breath.

He sulked for the rest of the hike. And kept his eye out for bugs.

‘

“Trip and I got the tents set up while you four were off doing… whatever you were doing.” Skye winked broadly at Fitz and Simmons, who looked perplexed, then again at Bobbi and Hunter, who had just emerged from a different part of the woods looking rather mussed.

Hunter cleared his throat. “We were, um. Just surveying the perimeter of the site. Can’t be too careful, now, can you?”

Trip and Skye wore twin looks of disbelief as Hunter busied himself stoking the campfire.

“Fitz lagged,” Jemma explained. “And you know how he gets lost. I didn’t want him wandering the woods alone.”

Trip and Skye shared a subtle but clearly disappointed look.

“Anyway,” Trip began, “Tents sleep three apiece, so we figured we’d just do girls and guys? That work for everybody?”

The other agents murmured their agreement, tossing their belongings in their respective tents. When Trip emerged from the guys’ tent with a grocery bag, Fitz’s eyes widened.

“Are those--”

“Stuff for s’mores? You know it.”

“Are they the--”

“Jumbo marshmallows? I don’t play around.”

“And--”

“Three different kinds of chocolate.”

Fitz tore his eyes from the bag of sweets to look at Trip gratefully. “Work up an appetite on your hike?” Trip asked.

“Famished.” Jemma rolled her eyes, but picked up a pair of sticks from beside the fire, loading each with marshmallows before handing one to Fitz. Trip just shook his head, a fond smile on his face.

“Not sure what you guys’d do without me.”

`

Just as they were settling in for the night, Hunter turned to Fitz. “Remember, if you hear any strange noises, it’s probably just bears.”

“Bears? _Bears_?” Fitz almost growled. “I was not informed there would be bears.”

“There are _always_ bears,” Hunter replied smugly. Fitz glared in response.

Trip looked over from where he was making himself comfortable on the other side of the tent. “Don’t worry. The bears are unlikely to come near us. And if they do? We’ll deal. We’ve dealt with worse.”

“Unless you have food. Food always attracts bears.”

Fitz hesitated for a brief moment before reaching into his bag and pulling out numerous packets of unhealthy foodstuffs. “What do I do with these? I can’t just throw them out of the tent.”

Hunter reached out and Fitz handed him the lot. Hunter started ripping the packets open with gusto, shoving handfuls of chips, crackers and cookies into his mouth.

“What are you _doing_?” Fitz asked, aghast.

Hunter shrugged. “The bears can’t find it if I eat it, right?”

Fitz let out a breath. “I guess not,” he murmured as he grabbed one of the packets. “Trip? Wanna help us out?”

Trip gave him a level look. “I’m not putting any of that junk in me.”

Fitz made a face. “Suit yourself.” He dug further into his snack.

Within minutes, both Fitz and Hunter were groaning, overstuffed with cheap, processed food and buckets of regrets.

Trip didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.

“Alright,” Fitz said, glaring. “Enough of your judgment.”

Trip threw up his hands. “I didn’t say anything!”

“You’re thinking it, though. I can tell.”

Hunter gathered the trash from their late night snack into a pile, stuffing it into the drawstring canvas bag that had held his sleeping bag. He grimaced as he lay back down. “I feel like shit."

Laying on his side, Fitz bit back a groan. “Me too.”

Trip sighed, turning over in his sleeping bag so that he faced the canvas wall rather than his whining, groaning tent-mates. “Just sleep it off.” He closed his eyes. “And hope bears can’t smell crumbs. You two are the messiest eaters I’ve ever seen.”

"Wonder what they’re doing in the girls’ tent," Fitz asked once the pain in his stomach had subsided, burrowing further into his sleeping bag.

Still grumpy from his gorging, Hunter shot him a look. “What the bloody hell do you think they’re doing? Three words: Naked pillow fights.”

Fitz swallowed thickly. “Naked…”

"Pillow fights. And probably, you know, comparing notes on our willies. You know, girl stuff."

"But how- how would they know—"

"Can you two keep it down over there?" Trip popped his head up from the other side of the tent. "The temple needs its rest."

‘

“What do you think the boys are doing over there?” Jemma asked during a lull in conversation.

Bobbi snorted. “If I had to hazard a guess? Trying to block out Hunter’s snoring.”

“I think I can hear it from here,” Skye replied. “How do you stand it?”

“Honestly, we rarely shared a bed all night, even after we were married. One of us was always coming or going from a mission.”

“So you had to come, then go?” asked Skye, failing to hold back her laughter.

“Skye, really. That was an awful pun,” Jemma said with a roll of her eyes.

Skye stuck out her tongue. Then, after a brief pause, “So, really, though. Who do we think is the most hung out of the guys?

Bobbi bit her lip, trying not to giggle. “I can tell you who’s not.”

"Really? Hunter’s not packing?" Skye shrugged. "I guess that doesn’t surprise me."

Bobbi swatted at Skye’s arm. “Hey, the man knows what to do with what he’s got.” She turned her attention to the other girl in the tent. “This one’s quiet. What aren’t you telling us, Jemma?”

"Nothing! Nothing." Jemma picked at an errant thread on her sleeping bag.

"Yeah," said Skye. "What do you know about Fitz’s little Fitz?"

"We’ve never—”

”Doesn’t mean you haven’t seen it,” Bobbi interrupted. “Spill.”

Jemma grimaced, then sighed. “One time, at the Academy… well, Fitz wasn’t always great about locking his door. I was excited about finally getting positive results on the experiment we’d been conducting, and I kind of… burst into his room unannounced.”

"And?" Skye’s eyes were wide.

"Well, I didn’t exactly have a chance to take precise measurements, but…" Jemma’s face reddened. "Let’s just say the tools as his disposal are impressive." Skye cackled gleefully, and Bobbi offered her fist to Jemma. Though embarrassed, she bumped it with her own.

"Right," said Skye, settling down. "All we need is data on Trip and we can make an accurate call."

"And how do you propose doing that?" Bobbi asked with a raised eyebrow and amused smirk.

"I have my ways," Skye said, sly grin on her face.

"Really, Skye. I don’t think you need to become a peeping tom. We shouldn’t invade Trip’s privacy like that," Jemma said nervously.

"Who said anything about being a peeping tom? Trip will be the one begging me to be exactly where I want to be."

"Skye just wants an excuse to jump Trip’s bones," Bobbi said in an exaggerated whisper.

"I do not," Skye said, though not at all convincingly. "It’s for science. 100% for science."

‘

"You know, I was in your shoes once, mate." Hunter propped himself up with one elbow, rolling on his side to face Fitz. "Sad, lonely, no girls in sight…"

"I’m not lonely," Fitz muttered.

"Know what I did to fix it?"

"Don’t care."

"Went to a bar, bagged the first bird I met, and viola! Dry spell over."

A weary sigh came from the far end of the tent, and Trip sat up. “Fitz, don’t listen to this dummy. You want my advice?”

"Not especially."

"Just be yourself. In my experience, all I’ve ever had to do was what I was already doing, and the girls always just… dug it."

"Easy for you to say," Fitz huffed. "You’re…you."

"Yeah, good point, actually."

Fitz flopped over in his sleeping bag. “I wish Mack had come on this stupid trip.”

‘

"Jemma, all I’m saying is that if I seduce Trip, you have to at least make a move on Fitz. It’s only fair.” Skye took another swig from Bobbi’s flask and Jemma wondered idly exactly how much Skye had had to drink that evening.

"I hardly think that’s appropriate."

Still, feeling a little worse for wear from that flask herself, Jemma couldn’t help considering Skye’s words. Her mind drifted back to the day she’d walked in on Fitz.

"She’s thinking about it!" Bobbi crowed.

"I am not," Jemma replied indignantly. "That’s my best friend you’re talking about."

"Best friend that you want to bang,” corrected Skye.

Jemma tried to find words to deny the statement, but hesitated too long.

"You do! You have to tell him," Bobbi said excitedly.

"I dare you," Skye said.

"We aren’t even playing Truth or Dare, Skye," Jemma reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. Although…that’s not a bad idea."

"No, Skye."

"Fine. But you aren’t getting out of this. It’ll make his whole life, seriously."

"I’m not sure that’s true anymore," Jemma protested.

Bobbi handed her the flask. “Have some more of this, and then ask to talk to him. If nothing else, he’ll love you for saving him from Hunter.”

Jemma took another sip. “Well, I suppose just talking to him couldn’t hurt…”

‘

 

_45 minutes later…_

"Fitz," Jemma hissed, shivering in the nighttime chill. "Fitz, come out here." She took another sip from the flask in one hand as she awkwardly knocked on the tent flap with the other. "Leopold Fitz, you come out here this instant."

"Jemma, what on earth—" The flap unzipped, and Fitz’s head appeared. He looked flummoxed and rumpled from sleep, and she idly wondered if it was odd that she found it a little sexy.

"Can we go for a walk?" She swayed a little as she stood, and he quickly climbed out of the tent, zipping it shut behind him and ignoring the snickers that came from within.

"Are you drunk?"

"Doesn’t matter."

He nodded, one hand hovering at the small of her back to steady her as she swayed again.

"Let’s walk."

Fitz nodded again, following her as she started down a trail that led away from the campsite. He swallowed.

"Hunter said… what if there are… bears?"

She turned to him and rolled her eyes before grabbing his hand and pulling him along with her. “Then I’ll protect you from them.”

“Well, what if there are more bugs, Jemma?”

“There probably will be, but they’re not likely to harm you.”

Fitz stumbled along after her on the uneven ground as Jemma led him with the unerring confidence of the fairly-drunk. “Where are you taking me?”

“I saw this little spot on our hike earlier.”

“You want to go hiking _now_? It’s 2 a.m.!”

Jemma stopped suddenly, and Fitz almost careened into her. “Shhh,” she said. “You are ruining the mood.”

“There’s a mood?” Fitz asked under his breath, but clearly Jemma either failed to hear him or chose to ignore him. He couldn’t help but be intrigued, though. This was not normal Jemma behavior. Unless… was he dreaming or hallucinating again?

Something crawled across the back of his neck and he jumped a foot in the air. Probably not a dream, then. There would be no unseen, mysterious creatures if he were dreaming of being alone with Jemma.

“We’re here!” she announced suddenly.

Fitz came up behind her to see a small, moonlit clearing. The ground was carpeted in moss, clearly drawn there by the sunlight during the day. Light pooled in the centre, making it look like an otherworldly fairy grotto.

It was beautiful.

And, once he thought about it, oddly romantic. He took a few steps forward, looking around, but there were no further clues as to why he had been brought there. He turned, about to demand answers.

“Jemma--” The rest of what he had been about to say was lost as Jemma came out of nowhere, throwing herself into him and pressing her lips against his.

He made a muffled noise of shock as she clutched at the sides of his sweatshirt, pulling him closer to her. His hands hovered at her shoulders before gripping them, pushing her just a couple of inches away.

"Jemma? Jemma, what…"

She bit her lip, hands still at his waist, then blew out a frustrated little puff of air. “Fitz, I’m just so tired of it. Of being polite and keeping my distance and being your friend.”

"You’re tired of— of being my friend?"

She shook her head, brow furrowed. “No, no, not like that. Sorry, this is coming out wrong.” She took a deep breath. “I’m tired of being _just_ your friend. And I’m sorry that it took me so long to realize it, and sorry that it took a flaskful of god knows what to tell you, but I want— I mean, that is, if you still…”

Fitz’s eyes widened. “Jem?” She looked up at him, eyes brimming with hope, and he breathed out months’-worth of pent-up relief. He raised one hand to her face, thumb brushing her jaw and fingers curling around her neck. “Of _course_ I still.”

He closed his eyes as their lips met again, biting back a smile. She clutched him closer, and he was just about to let out a whimper that would surely embarrass him when he heard a series of high-pitched howls. He gasped, instinctively pulling her closer. “Coyotes!”

Forehead pressed against his shoulder, Jemma giggled. “No. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.” He whipped his head around to see Bobbi, Skye, Trip and Hunter crouching in the brush with varying degrees of pride on their faces.

"Glad to see you took my advice, mate," said Hunter, flashing Fitz a thumbs up. Bobbi thwacked the back of his head, then fished a $20 out of her pocket and handed it to Trip. Skye just watched, eyebrows raised and hands clenched together in front of her mouth.

Jemma sighed. “Yes, Skye, we can group-hug.” Skye made a gleeful noise and rushed toward the couple, knocking them back a step as she embraced them.

"I love you guys so much," she said, squeezing harder. "And you are so getting another data point tonight, Simmons.”

Fitz’s smile dropped. “Hang on, what?”


End file.
